He'll Be Here For Christmas
by sonicthehedgehoglover2
Summary: Five weeks ago, Sonic was sitting on the couch talking to Tails. Five weeks later, he's gone. Tails is depressed, Knuckles is acting nicer, and Christmas is tomorrow. But when Knuckles decides to take Tails on a hunt for a Chaos Emerald, what will they discover instead? And will this discovery make Christmas possible for everyone or... worse? Merry Christmas to everyone!


**Me:HOHOHO! Welcome to my first ever Christmas story!**

**Sonic:Ugh...more work!**

**Me:What's that supposed to mean?!**

**Sonic:It means you write crazy long stories where I have to do so much work!**

**Me:Oh stop complaining! You know, I think I should ask Shadow if he wants to be my Co-host…**  
><strong><br>Sonic:NOOO!**  
><strong><br>Me:THAN BE QUIET AND GO GET READY!**  
><strong><br>Sonic:OK! Sheesh!*leaves the room***  
><strong><br>Me:Ok, now that I finally got him to go get ready let's begin! THIS STORY IS IN THE NAME OF CHRISTMAS! I HOPE ALL YOU GUYS HAVE A AWESOME CHRISTMAS AND GET LOTS AND LOTS OF GIFTS! WARNING:THERE IS A SMALL POSSIBILITY THAT YOU MAY NEED TISSUES AFTER THIS ONE! NOW… QUE THE STORY!**  
><strong><br>Sonic:Wait! I'm not ready!**  
><strong><br>Me:Ugh! Fine. We're going on without you!**  
><strong><br>Sonic:NO!**  
><strong><br>Me:QUE THE STORY!**

* * *

><p><strong>He'll Be Home for Christmas<br>**

Tails was sitting in Chris's kitchen with his head down on the table and his light blue eyes on the calendar in front of him. On the calendar, a few days were crossed out in November before the x's went on to December and stopped on… December 24, Christmas Eve.

5 weeks.

Tails stood up from the table and walked over to the windowsill. With a sigh, Tails stared out the window, allowing the sunshine to warm up his slightly cold body. Outside the window, snow was floating softly down from sky and littered the already thick, snow covered ground. Dressed up and playing in the snow, was Cream, Cheese, Chris, Amy, and unsurprisingly… Chuck. They were all having a girls vs. boys snowball fight with the girls in the lead so far. Every time Chris or Chuck tried to throw a snowball at the girls, they threw twice as many back at them. Tails watched them for a minute before Amy spotted him and began to beckon him with a white gloved hand. Tails shook his head at her causing Amy to give him a sad frown. Before Amy could do anything else, Chris threw a snowball at her head which caused her to laugh and toss two back at him. This made Tails smile a bit before sadness smacked into him again.

Tails has been feeling this way since 5 weeks ago when… Sonic disappeared.

* * *

><p><em>It all started when it was near the end of November and the crew of heroes were gathered around Chris's TV, watching the news where Scarlet Garcia who was in the middle of Station Square, wrapped up in a thick winter coat and had a pair of black earmuffs on.<em>

_"As we speak right now, a massive amount of snow is heading right towards Station Square in just a few short hours."Announced Scarlet, a wide smile lighting up her face despite the way she drew her coat closer to her body."We predict about 2 to 3 feet of snow and for you kids... NO SCHOOL! So remember to bundle tomorrow in warm, thick clothes!"_

_Scarlet was about to continue when a strong wind blew both the earmuffs and the microphone, that she was clutching in her hand, to the side and out of the view of the camera. Scarlet was about to chase after them when a shadow appeared above her. Gasping, Scarlet pointed pointed up above her head as the cameraman made a small sound of surprise before angling the camera up towards the sky. There, floating above everyone, was Dr. Eggman with a gigantic black, red, and yellow robot with Eggman's insignia, hovering right next to him in the air._

_ "Eggman!"Exclaimed everyone as they watched said Egghead laugh at the camera.  
><em>  
><em>"What's <span>he<span> doing there?"Questioned Knuckles, pointing at the TV screen._

_"I don't know Knuckles. Maybe... trying to take over the world?"Said Sonic sarcastically, leaning back on the arm of the couch while rolling his eyes._

_Knuckles growled at Sonic."I didn't ask for your reply, Hedgehog!"_

_Knux's growling seem to have no effect on Sonic for the hedgehog just rolled his eyes at Knuckles before turning back to the TV."Then why did you ask the question?"_

_Instead of coming up with a retort to that, Knuckles crossed the room and headed towards Sonic with both of his hands clenched into fists and a glare on his face. Sonic, either didn't care or didn't notice Knuckles, for he kept his eyes only on the TV. When Knuckles was almost on top of Sonic, Chris rushed in between the both of them at the last minute with his hands up._

_"Guys, this is no time to start fighting!"  
><em>

_"Chris is right, guys."Tails stood up from his spot next to Cream and walked over to Chris before pointing at the TV."Eggman is about to attempt to take over Station Square again and its up to us to stop him!"_

_"Yeah."Sonic jumped off his spot on the arm of the couch and began to head towards the door."Its time to go defeat Eggman... again."_

_"Wait Sonic!"Exclaimed Tails, grabbing Sonic's arm as he passed him."Shouldn't you wait until I grab the X-Tornado?"_

_Sonic thought about it for a moment before shaking his head at Tails."Nah, I should scout ahead in case Eggman has any hidden surprises."_

_Tails looked at Sonic with uncertain eyes before releasing his grip on Sonic's arm."Ok. Be careful Sonic."_

_"Hey,"Sonic smirked at Tails,"don't worry about me pal. Careful is my middle name."_

_And with that Sonic disappeared out the door causing a few of the papers to flutter to the ground._

_"Weird,"grumbled Knuckles as everyone gathered their coats and rushed towards the X-Tornado in the garage,"I thought his middle name was Idiot."_

* * *

><p><em><strong>A Few Minutes Later...<strong>_

_Tails tried to level the plane as he searched the streets below for a certain blue blur. Behind him, he heard Amy, Knuckles, and Chris mumbling underneath their breaths as they also searched for Sonic. Every now and then one of them would said 'I see him!' causing Tails to turn the plane in the direction they saw him only for them to later say 'Oh its just a car' or 'Its just a kid who really likes the color blue'. By the fifth time this happened, Tails finally had enough._

_"Why doesn't someone just use their communicator and call him?"Snapped Tails, turning to look at his friends with a frown on his face._

_Amy was about to comment Tails on his rudeness when something caught her eye. With a scream, Amy pointed in front of Tails."TAILS, WATCH OUT!"_

_Tails turned around in time to see a missile about to strike the front of the plane. Screaming, Tails grabbed the joystick and swerved the plane out of the way of the missile. Everything slowed down for Tails as the fox watched the missile miss the front of the plane by an inch and... hit the right wing where Knuckles was._

_The wing exploded in a red, fiery explosion as shrapnel went flying. Tails glanced at the wing where Knuckles was moment ago before looking forward where he saw a red figure heading towards the ground._

_"KNUCKLES!"Exclaimed Tails in shock as he, Chris, and Amy watched Knuckles fall to his doom when... a blue blur appeared out of nowhere and caught the echinda. The blue blur skidded to a stop and allowed everyone in the plane to see Sonic who was gripping Knuckles in his arms._

_Everyone gave a sigh of relief as Tails managed to pull up the X-Tornado and land beside Sonic and Knuckles. As soon as the plane came to a complete stop, Amy jumped out of the plane towards the two boys with Chris a few steps behind her._

_Sonic, at the moment, was kneeling next to an unconscious Knuckles as he leaned the echidna's body up to his."Come on Knux, wake up."Sonic slapped Knuckles's cheek lightly i__n hopes of waking the echidna up, only to get no reply which caused him to frown._

_"Sonic! Knuckles!"Sonic's head snapped up as he saw Chris and Amy approaching him and Knuckles._

_"Hey guys!"Exclaimed Sonic, waving his hand for them to hurry. When Chris and Amy were close enough, Sonic gestured to Chris to stop where he was."Chris, I'm pretty sure you don't want to see this."_

_Amy raised an eyebrow at Sonic as she kneeled down beside Knuckles."Why shouldn't he-oh no..."_

_Sonic followed Amy's gaze down to Knuckles's left arm which was twisted at an impossible angle at his side. The arm itself was turning a purplish color and was starting to swell quite a bit._

_"Yeah... his arm is a bit twisted out of shape."Sonic tore his gaze away from Knuckles's arm and towards Amy's eyes."How'd this happen?"_

_"It was Eggman."Whispered Amy, giving Sonic a sad look._

_"You called?"_

_Everyone turned towards the new voice to discover Eggman who was smirking at the crew from the comfort of his own EggMobile._

_Sonic frowned at Eggman before standing up, allowing Amy to take Knuckles's limp body."What do you want Eggman?"_

_"Hmm... I don't know. Maybe to take over the world!"Eggman rolled his eyes at Sonic like he was the stupidest hedgehog in the world."Seriously what part of evil villain taking over the world do you not get?"_

_Sonic put a hand to his chin as he made a humming sound."How about the part where you actually take over the world?"_

_Eggman growled at Sonic before a smirk appeared on his face."Ok... how about this then?"Eggman pressed a button on his EggMobile which caused a claw to pop out of the bottom and reach towards Amy and Knuckles. Unfortunately, Amy didn't notice the claw until it snatched Knuckles out of her arms._

_"HEY!"Screamed Amy and Sonic in unison, watching as the claw pulled back until it was right beside Eggman._

_"Let's make a deal Hedgehog. You surrender and allow me to take over the world or..."Eggman gestured to the limp form in the claw."I keep the echidna."_

_Sonic frowned at Eggman. There was no way he was going to surrender to Eggman of all people, but... he couldn't allow Eggman to keep Knuckles. Besides... Knuckles owned him five bucks._

_"Hey EggHead! I thought you were better than that!"Said Sonic as he crossed his arms and shook his head at Eggman."I guess I was just wrong..."_

_"What are you babbling about now Rodent?"Asked Eggman suspiciously, leaning forward in his chair towards Sonic._

_Sonic tried to resist the feeling to smirk."I'm just saying Eggman. I mean seriously, what kind of evil villain takes hostages? Then does the whole 'let's make a deal thing,?"Eggman opened his mouth to reply only for Sonic to interrupt him."A weak one, that's what."_

_Eggman growled at Sonic before pushing a button his control pad. The claw that was hovering near Eggman lowered to the ground before Knuckles was deposited onto the ground. Amy saw this and quickly ran over to Knuckles and began to check up on his main injury._

_"There we go Eggy! Your evilness just went up by one point!"Teased Sonic, smiling brightly at Eggman which caused him to frown deeply at Sonic._

_"Don't get so snarky with me Hedgehog! I only released the Echinda so I could do this!"_

_Eggman slammed his fist into control pad as the claw came alive like a snake and slithered towards Sonic at a high speed. Sonic jumped up in the air while the claw hit the spot where he was a second ago. Sonic smirked at this until the claw sprung from the ground and wrapped around him._

_"ARGH!"Screamed Sonic, tugging at the claw as it dug into his skin._

_"SONIC!"Hollered Amy as she began to get up from the ground and rush towards Sonic only to stop when the hedgehog began to yell at her._

_"NO!"Yelled Sonic, turning to Amy as best as he could."Grab Knuckles and take him to hospital Amy!"_

_"But what about you-"_

_"Don't worry about me!"Sonic gestured with his head towards the X-Tornado."Now go!"_

_Amy stared at Sonic with a slightly afraid look before gripping Knuckles underneath his armpits and began to try and drag Knuckles towards the X-Tornado. Chris, who was beside her, glanced at Sonic with worried eyes before reaching down and helping Amy tug Knuckles to the X-Tornado. Sonic watched this for a moment while keeping an eye out for Eggman who was typing like crazy on his control pad._

_"SONIC!"_

_Sonic looked over to the X-Tornado where Tails was leaning out of the side. Tails was looking at Sonic sadly as Amy and Chris began to load Knuckles into the back._

_"Sonic..."_

_"Go Tails!"Sonic waved at his hands at Tails desperately._

_"But Sonic-"_

_"GO!"_

_Tails gave Sonic one last look before leaning back in and starting up the X-Tornado. Tails then risked one more glance towards Sonic who was now busy trying to get out of the claw._

_"Be careful... big bro."_

* * *

><p>Tails, Amy, and Chris all managed to get Knuckles to the hospital that day, but... Sonic was never seen again. At first it was a few hours then that stretched into days and then... weeks. After the first week, posters went up and news reports were seen around the world, announcing the Blue Blur's disappearance. All around the world, people began the great search for their missing hero with... no luck. Soon, some people officially gave up after 2 weeks and just announced Sonic dead. But Tails kept going.<p>

He went around Station Square, asking citizens if they saw Sonic or, after he fixed up the X-Tornado, he went around to places he heard from Sonic's stories and looked for any signs of his brother, in case the hedgehog decided to go on a run after the battle without telling anyone. But every search came up... empty. One time, Tails even went to one of Eggman's bases in case the doctor had the hedgehog there only to find it totally empty.

Finally Tails just... stopped searching and allowed depression to kick in. He stopped inventing, working on the X-Tornado, and he even stopped going into the garage! Soon Tails stopped talking, he often distanced himself away from the others and, only talked to someone when they were talking to him. The others noticed this and often tried to get the fox to speak up. Amy even volunteered to work with Tails in the garage on the X-Tornado! But the fox only waved his hand at them and walked away when they tried to talk to him.

Then... Knuckles, who had spent his first few weeks out of the hospital on Angel Island at the time, came down to the Thorndyke's mansion and spent a few nights trying to get the fox to talk. Every now and then, Knuckles would traverse between Angel Island and the Thorndyke's mansion to comfort the fox.

Speaking of Knuckles, Tails turned to see the echinda walk into the kitchen, his left arm up in a sling. The echinda looked surprised to see Tails for a minute before regaining his composure."Why aren't you out there playing in the snow?"

Tails looked at Knuckles a bit and shrugged his shoulders."It's cold."

"Tails,"Knuckles walked over and placed a hand on the younger's shoulder,"moping around isn't going to just bring him back."

"Yeah, I know..."Tails shook Knuckles's hand off his shoulder before looking away from the echinda's stare."But it doesn't hurt."

Knuckles sighed at the fox. Tails could be aggravating when he wanted to. Just like... Sonic. Knuckles shook his head at the sudden thought that ran through his head. There was no time for that now."Tails you going to have to learn to let go."

"Maybe I don't want to let go yet."Said Tails as he walked around Knuckles and headed towards the door with his arms crossed.

"Tails, Sonic was my friend too, you know."Knuckles turned to Tails who was now staring at him with a frown on his face."In fact, you see the others outside? They were also Sonic's friend, but are they moping around?"

"No."Mumbled Tails, staring at his feet.

"Then why are you?"

"You don't understand Knuckles!"Tails looked up towards the said echinda with teary eyes."Sonic wasn't just my best friend! He was my older brother! He was the one who took me from South Island and cared for me when no one else did! He showed me things about me that I never knew about! He even taught me bravery and the meaning of never giving up, Knuckles! So why should I let him go when he taught me to be me?"

"Because,"Knuckles approached Tails with a serious look on his face,"I'm pretty sure that Sonic would want you to let him go. What is that thing he always says?"

Tails sighed as he began to wipe his eyes."Never let the past hold you down. If you do then you'll never move on in life."

Knuckles smiled lightly at Tails."Exactly."

Tails was silent until he ran towards Knuckles and wrapped his arms around the echinda's torso. Knuckles looked genuinely surprised for a minute before he embraced Tails who had began to cry.

"I-I d-d-don't want t-to f-forget Sonic."Hiccuped Tails, burying his face into Knuckles's chest.

"Tails..."Whispered Knuckles, pulling the fox off of his chest and staring into his teary baby blue eyes."I didn't mean that I wanted you to forget Sonic. I meant I wanted you to let go of him."

"H-How do you l-let g-go o-of someone w-who was al-always there?"Stuttered Tails, staring at Knuckles while he wiped the tears that continued to fall off his face.

Knuckles thought about this question for a moment until an answer popped into his head."There's no real way of doing that, Tails. But sometimes if you take it slow, it ends up getting easier and easier to let go."

Tails nodded at Knuckles as the echinda patted him on the shoulder. Tails smiled at the echinda before a thought popped into his head."K-Knuckles? What are you doing here?"

"Oh yeah."Said Knuckles."I used that Emerald Tracker you gave me and I found out that there's a Chaos Emerald in the deserts outside of Station Square."

"A C-Chaos Emerald? Really?"

"Well... as much as I hate to admit it... I'm not too sure."

"What!"Tails looked at Knuckles's with a shocked look, all signs of previous sadness forgotten."What do you mean you're not too sure?"

"Well... when your Emerald Tracker first detected that Chaos Energy signature, it was pretty... weak."Admitted Knuckles."And it kept flickering like it was going to just wink out. If your tracker wasn't so strong, I don't even think it would've showed up."

"Wait. Was that a compliment I heard?"Asked Tails, cupping a hand around his ear.

"Yeah, yeah, don't get to used to it, kid."

Tails smirked a bit at Knuckles who was rolling his eyes at the moment before getting back on topic of the conversation."Knuckles, you still didn't answer my question. Why are you here?"

"Oh yeah."Knuckles adjusted the sling on his left arm before continuing."I wanted to know if you wanted to come with me to find the emerald."

"No thank you!"Said Tails, waving his hands and backing away from Knuckles.

"Come on Kid! You've been moping around here for weeks!"Knuckles gestured around the mansion."Don'cha think its time to adventure outside and see the snow?"

"Maybe..."Mumbled Tails, looking away from Knuckles.

"_Maybe_? Ok, fine. I'm gonna count down to one and if you don't say yes... then I'll leave and find the emerald myself."Said Knuckles, awkwardly trying to cross his arm across his chest.

"Knuckles..."Began Tails, frowning at the echinda.

"Five."

"Come on Knuckles, you can't seriously-"

"Four."

"Knuckles, I'm not going to-"

"Three."

"Can you stop-"

"Two."

"_Knuckles-_"

"One."

"OKAY! I'll go!"Screamed Tails, putting his hands up in surrender.

"Finally."Said Knuckles, smirking at Tails before walking out of the kitchen.

"Wait Knuckles!"Yelled Tails, rushing towards the echinda."How are we going to get there?"

"Well... we can either walk through the snow or..."

"We can take the X-Tornado."Finished Tails.

"Yep."Said Knuckles, walking towards the garage door.

"Hold on, Knuckles."Tails ran in front of the echinda with his hands out."I don't even have my-"

"Scarf?"Knuckles pulled out a blue scarf from behind his back and handed it to Tails.

Tails looked at Knuckles with a surprised look."How did you know?"

"You're an adventurer, Tails. And no adventurer can stay away from an adventure for long."Replied Knuckles, smiling at Tails who was still staring at the echinda in shock."Well come on!"

Tails blinked before following Knuckles who disappeared through the garage door.

* * *

><p><em>"Oh Knuckles, before I forget... why <span>are<span> we going after the Chaos Emerald?"_

_"Well, you never know when we might have another one of those alien invasions. Besides, the Master Emerald may be a little lonely without me."_

_"If that was some kind if pun to cheer me up... then it was pretty terrible."_

_"... Just start the plane, Fox."_

Tails looked at the snowflakes that stuck to the window in fascination. Tails had been stuck in the mansion so long that he hardly ever stepped out and saw the snow that fallen overnight. Knuckles, who was riding behind Tails, chuckled at the fox's reaction to the snow before allowing himself to think about the past events.

Knuckles was pretty shocked five weeks ago, when he awoke in the hospital without much memory of how he got there in the first place and a large cast covering his left arm. Luckily, Amy and Chris were able to remind Knuckles of all the events that happened while he was out. Tails, meanwhile, was looking out for Sonic in case the hedgehog managed to reach the hospital after the battle, but... the hedgehog never showed up. At first, Knuckles was pretty steamed at the hedgehog for allowing the kid to worry about him like that, but when the hedgehog didn't show up for days after that... then Knuckles realized that there was something was wrong.

Weeks soon passed and Knuckles, who was released from the hospital a long time ago, was resting near the Master Emerald on Angel Island when... a poster fluttered by. Knuckles managed to catch the poster before it flew off the island only to get the surprise of his life. On the poster was Sonic with the words 'missing' hovering above his head and a reward for his find below his picture.

After making sure the Master Emerald was safe, Knuckles hightailed it down to the Thorndyke's mansion to question everyone about the poster only to discover that everything wasn't exactly the same. When Knuckles reached the Thorndyke's mansion, he found everyone in the garage, surrounding Tails. Amy was talking to the fox about the X-Tornado while Tails seemed more interested with the grease-covered floor. When Amy paused in the middle of her sentence, Tails mumbled something underneath his breath before walking away. After some questioning, Knuckles found out from the others that Tails became distant ever since Sonic went missing and that they were trying their best to converse with the fox, but... he wouldn't give them the time of day!

Eventually, Knuckles was the one who ended up getting the fox to opened up a bit, but for a price... he had to stay by Tails's side. Whenever Knuckles tried to go back to Angel Island, Tails seemed to go into full whine mode and try to hold the echinda back! Finally Knuckles just decided to be by Tails's side so the fox wouldn't feel so-

"Knuckles!"Called Tails, snapping his fingers in the echinda's face.

Knuckles jumped before covering it up with a snarl."What Tails!?"

Tails backed from Knuckles with his ears pressed lightly against his head."I-I just wanted you to know that we-we're here."Tails then pointed outside the plane where snow mixed in with the sand of the desert and a few of the cactuses were covered in a thin line of snow.

"Oh... sorry about snapping at you, Tails."Apologized Knuckles, giving the fox a nervous smile.

"I-It's alright Knuckles."Tails gave Knuckles a ghost of a smile before turning around and messing with something on his communicator."I managed to scan the area with my built in emerald tracker on my communicator and... you're right. There's a weak energy signal radiating a few feet away from the X-Tornado."

"Then let's go look for it."

* * *

><p>Knuckles trudged through the snow, grumbling about his bad decision to not wear boots. Tails giggled at this as he flew over Knuckles, causing the echinda to shake a fist at him.<p>

"You could help me out here!"Shouted Knuckles, glaring up at the fox who continued to giggle.

"I could... but since when did you ask for help?"Asked Tails, smirking at the annoyed echinda when... a snowball smacked him in the face. Tails wiped the snow off of his face before frowning at the Knuckles who was clenching two snowballs in his hand.

"Since I could threaten you by shooting you out of the sky."Answered Knuckles. And with that, the echinda launched the two snowballs at Tails, only for the fox to duck out of the way at the last minute.

"If that's how you want to play,"Tails flew down close to the snow,"then at least play it right!"Tails then used his namesakes to propel all the snow below him onto Knuckles.

"Tails cut it out!"Screamed Knuckles, placing his hands up to stop the oncoming spray of snow. When the snow continued to fly, Knuckles ended getting covered up in snow."TAILS-Mph!"

Tails stopped spinning his namesakes and turned to look at the echinda only to break out in laughter. In front of Tails was a large snowman with two angry violet eyes, a black nose, and a frown on his face. Tails took off his scarf before placing it around the snowman's neck.

"There we go!"Giggled Tails, stepping back to admire his work.

The angry violet eyes seemed to bore into Tails's head as the snow melted from off of the snowman to reveal Knuckles underneath. Said echinda growled threateningly at Tails before taking off the scarf wrapped around his neck and throwing it at the fox's laughing face.

"That was not funny!"Growled Knuckles, glaring at Tails.

"I beg to differ!"Laughed Tails with tears flowing down his face.

Knuckles scooped up some snow, shoved it Tails's face, and walked around the fox as he began to choke on the snow."Let's just find the Chaos Emerald."

* * *

><p>Knuckles pulled uncomfortably at the sling that held his left arm up, with a small grunt. Tails noticed this and looked up from the emerald tracker on his communicator.<p>

"Are you okay, Knuckles?"

Knuckles adjusted the sling one more time before answering Tails."Yeah, this thing is just really annoying."

Tails reached over to Knuckles and smacked his hand away from the sling."But its also the thing that's keeping your arm from feeling like a dead weight."

Knuckles frowned at Tails for smacking his hand away, but otherwise nodded at the fox."Good point."

Tails rolled his eyes at Knuckles while keeping a smile hidden away from the echinda when... his communicator began to beep. Tails's eyes lit up as a excited smile slid across the fox's muzzle."Yes!"

Knuckles raised an eye-ridge at the excited fox."Please tell me that beeping is a good thing."

Tails looked at Knuckles like he was a complete dunce."Of course this is a good thing, Knuckles!"Tails began to walk which caused the beeping to grow louder and louder."It means we're getting closer to the Chaos Emerald!"

Knuckles looked at the direction the fox was walking in and sweat-dropped."Um... Tails?"

Unfortunately for Knuckles, Tails had started to break into a ramble."I have to admit Knuckles I... really didn't want to come along with you on this..."

"Tails."

"But... this actually isn't so bad-"

"Tails!"

"I mean, I kind of expected this to be really boring, but its actually pretty-"

"TAILS WATCH OUT!"

"Huh-WOAH!"Tails looked up just in time to avoid crashing into a pile of boulders that were stacked up in front of him. Tails stared at the rocks like they appeared out of nowhere as Knuckles came rushing up behind him.

"Hey Tails, are you alright?"Asked Knuckles, throwing Tails a worry look.

"Yeah, but..."Tails frowned as he pushed a button and looked back up at the boulders,"the Chaos Emerald is behind these boulders."Tails then turned towards Knuckles with a pleading look."Knuckles, do you think you can-"

"You bet I can!"Without any warning, Knuckles drew back his right hand and slammed it into the boulders. The boulders instantly smashed into pieces the moment, Knuckles's fist made contact which allowed the two boys to see what laid behind the rocks.

Tails gasped."Wow, its a-"

"Cave."Mumbled Knuckles.

In front of the two boys was a medium-sized cave that had a dark, narrow entryway that ended at a semi bright light. Tails began to walk towards the narrow entryway when Knuckles pulled him back.

"Wait Tails."Said Knuckles, observing the cave with narrow eyes.

"What Knuckles?"Asked Tails, giving the echinda a frown.

"Now that I'm closer to the Chaos Energy Signature... it feels... familiar. Like I felt it before. Maybe we should-"Knuckles stopped when Tails suddenly burst forward and ran down the narrow entryway."Tails!"

Knuckles rolled his eyes at Tails's behavior before he heard a scream."TAILS!"

Knuckles ran forward, slid through the narrow entryway, and headed towards the bright light. When Knuckles passed through the bright light, he found himself in a very small part of the cave with a crack in the roof that allowed in light and cold air, pieces of cacti that were strewn all over the cave floor, and a dark blob that laid in the middle of it. But Knuckles hardly paid any attention to this as ran over to Tails who, at the moment, had his back to him.

"Tails! There you are! You shouldn't just run off like a lunatic and-"Knuckles stopped when he saw Tails's trembling body."Tails?"

Instead of answering, Tails just pointed towards the black blob, lying on the cave floor."Is-Is t-that-"

Knuckles squinted his eyes."Sonic?"

* * *

><p>Both Knuckles and Tails stared at the so-called 'black blob' lying on the cave floor. Before Knuckles could even react, Tails rushed forward and kneeled beside Sonic who was laying face-down on the cave floor. Knuckles frowned worriedly at this and called out Tails's name.<p>

"Tails! You shouldn't go near him if he's..."Knuckles trailed off, unable to say the D word.

Tails seemed to understand what Knuckles was about to say for the fox turned around and gave the echinda a glare that clearly said 'don't you dare say that ever again' all over. This made Knuckles turn away from the heat of Tails's glare and towards the cacti and pieces of wood that laid strewn all over the cave floor.

'_Just what was Sonic doing here?_'Wondered Knuckles, picking up one of the cacti that was somehow peeled open.'_And why was he here in the first place?_'

"KNUCKLES COME HERE!"Called Tails urgently, his voice slicing through Knuckles thoughts like a knife.

"Huh?"Knuckles dropped the cacti on the ground before rushing towards Tails and stood next to the fox."What Tails?"

"L-L-Look."Tails began to push Sonic's still form over to reveal the hedgehog's injuries.

All over Sonic's body were cuts, bruises that have turned a blackish purple, and few spines from the cacti were sticking out of his arms and legs. But the worst of all the injuries was... Sonic's leg. The hedgehog's leg had dried blood all around a large cut that started at Sonic's thigh and ended near his ankle. When you turned Sonic's leg just a bit to the right, you could almost see some of Sonic's bone sticking out.

Knuckles's eyes moved from Sonic's leg to the hedgehog's face which was a deep pasty color that rivaled the color of a pillow. Knuckles moved his hand over above Sonic's mouth where he waited... and waited... and just when he was about to announce to Tails that the hedgehog was gone... Knuckles felt a small amount of air brush against his glove. Knuckles's eyes lit up in both disbelief and happiness as he opened his mouth to give Tails the good news.

"Tails! Sonic's ali-"Knuckles was cut off in the middle of his sentence when he heard a gagging noise beside him. Knuckles looked over to Tails who was turned away from both Knuckles and Sonic, trying not to throw up on the ground. Knuckles moved forward and began to rub the poor fox's back, gently. Knuckles had forgotten that Tails was just a young fox and probably couldn't stand to stomach the large injury that Sonic somehow sustained.

So when Tails finally stopped gagging, Knuckles helped the fox to his feet before saying something important to him."Tails, go bring X-Tornado closer to the entrance of the cave and I'll stay here and watch Sonic."

Instead of rushing to get the X-Tornado, Tails just looked at Knuckles like he told him to smash his head into a wall."W-What? You mean, you want me to just leave my big bro when he may be dy-"

"JUST GO!"Snarled Knuckles, pushing Tails.

Tails threw Knuckles a glare before racing out of the cave, leaving both Knuckles and Sonic all alone. As soon as Knuckles didn't hear Tails's footsteps anymore, he began to gently, pick Sonic up bridal style, being careful of the hedgehog's mangled leg.

"_Don't worry, Sonic,_"Whispered Knuckles, walking out of the cave room and heading towards the entrance where he heard the X-Tornado's engine.

"_I'll make sure nothing bad will happen to you._"

* * *

><p>Dr. Carmen at Station Square Hospital had seen many cases of injuries, diseases, and sometimes even mental problems. Even when Eggman started attacking the area, she thought she saw everything when many different people came in and out of the hospital from short to tall, young to old, or even famous to 'never heard of you' with injuries that range from minor to critical. But nothing prepared her for what happened that Christmas Eve.<p>

Everything was fairly normal at the hospital and since Eggman hasn't attacked in weeks, the hospital was almost empty except for some youngsters who either caught a bad bug or went little too far when sledding down some of the hills in Station Square. But 'fairly normal' could never come even close to describing what happened next. Dr. Carmen was leafing through a file for a little girl who was checked into the hospital three months ago for some kind of lung disease and only a few weeks ago, she had to get a lung transplant. The poor girl was hoping to go home today, but... Dr. Carmen wasn't sure she was going to be able leave. Dr. Carmen threw the file down on the desk before blowing a strand of black hair out of her face. If only she could find a way to cheer the little girl up...

Dr. Carmen jumped in the air when she heard the front door to the hospital slam open. She frowned and turned towards the culprits about to yell at them. There were people in the hospital who were resting after surgeries or being under heavy sedative! But, all thoughts of anger disappeared from Dr. Carmen's mind when she laid eyes on the culprits who were standing in the middle of the hospital.

Right there, a few feet away from Dr. Carmen were... Mobians. But, not just any Mobians! The Mobians that saved Earth countless times from Eggman's wrath! One Mobian was a small yellow fox who was trying his best not to panic while the other was busy looking around the hospital for something. Dr. Carmen recognized these Mobians as Miles "Tails" Prower and Knuckles the Echinda. But wait. Wasn't there that blue hedgehog named... Sonic! Dr. Carmen searched around the other two Mobians until she noticed a bluish form, lying unconscious and bleeding heavily in the echinda's arms.

'_Oh Dear!_'Thought Dr. Carmen, rushing towards the heroes.

When Knuckles saw the Dr. Carmen approaching, he began to growl underneath his breath. His growling stopped however when Tails placed a hand on his arm and gave him a shaky, but firm look. Knuckles huffed underneath his breath, but otherwise kept his cool when Dr. Carmen stood in front of them with concern on her face.

Dr. Carmen gave the Hero of Earth in Knuckles's arms a small glance before looking back up at the two Mobians."What happened to him?"

Tails was waiting for Knuckles to answer, but when the echinda remained silent, he knew he had no choice but to speak up himself."H-He was in an accident."

Dr. Carmen nodded as she gestured to some nurses who were passing by."Do you know what kind of accident he was in?"

Tails shook his head at Dr. Carmen."No... w-we just found him lying in a cave like this."

"Hmm..."Dr. Carmen turned and whispered something to the nurses who nodded at her and rushed away.

"What are they doing?"Demanded an angry voice as Dr. Carmen looked at Knuckles who was glaring at her.

Dr. Carmen cleared her throat before answering."They're just going to get a stretcher to put your friend on."

And as if on cue, the nurses returned with a short yellow and back stretcher with small red rails. One of the nurses who was a tall, blond man approached Knuckles and began to reach for Sonic. Knuckles saw this and began to back up when Tails gripped his arm. Knuckles turned to glare at Tails only to be met with a bunch of tears running down the fox's face.

"_Let him go._"Whispered Tails, motioning for Knuckles to allow the man to take Sonic.

At first, Knuckles looked unsure whether to do what Tails said, but when the fox continued to motion for him to let the male nurse take Sonic out of his hands... Knuckles stopped moving and allowed the male nurse to come closer to him. The male nurse nodded in appreciation before taking Sonic and placing him on the stretcher where the other nurses began to roll it down the hallway. Knuckles and Tails went to follow the nurses down the hallway when Dr. Carmen put out a hand to stop them.

"I'm sorry, but you can't follow us."

"WHAT!"Roared Knuckles, clenching his fist tightly.

Tails laid a hand on Knuckles to calm him down as he stared at Dr. Carmen."Why can't we follow?"

Dr. Carmen sighed before answering."Well... your friend, Sonic has been injured... severely, by the looks of it. We're afraid he may have to receive surgery."

Tails gasped in shock while Knuckles crossed his arms and glared at Dr. Carmen. He already knew there was possibility that Sonic would have to receive surgery."What do we do until Sonic's done with his surgery?"

"Well, you can wait in our waiting room until further notice,"Dr. Carmen pointed over to the little white room near the entrance of the hospital,"or you can-"

"We'll wait."Interrupted Knuckles, causing Dr. Carmen to frown in his direction.

"Very well. We'll try to get Mr. Sonic the help he needs."And with that, Dr. Carmen turned and followed the nurses through the hallway.

Knuckles and Tails were left standing in the middle of the hospital with one question on their minds.

Will Sonic make it?

* * *

><p><strong>Me:Sorry that I just ended it like this! But, I thought the story was getting too long for a one chapter story! So I guess this is... GOOD-BYE!<strong>


End file.
